1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to plumbing fixtures and, more particularly, to a faucet manifold and to a method of manufacturing a faucet manifold.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A typical faucet manifold includes as a major component a hollow body portion formed by a casting process employing one or more cores. Inlets for connection to a source of water are provided for the body portion. The usual technique for connecting the inlets to water pipes is by machining threads on either an exterior or interior portion of the inlets. The body portion also is provided with a spout-supporting outlet which, like the inlets, usually is threaded. In order to provide a valving function for each of the inlets, additional openings are formed in the body portion adjacent the inlets. These openings customarily are machined and threaded. Valve members can be positioned in the openings and held in place by means of hold-down nuts.
Faucet manifolds manufactured according to the foregoing description are in widespread use. Such manifolds are substantial pieces of equipment, often weighing several pounds or more. They usually last for many years. Unfortunately, they have a number of drawbacks, probably the most significant of which is the time and expense needed to manufacture the manifolds. The casting process by which the manifolds are manufactured is not susceptible of low-cost, high-volume production. Individual molds and cores must be prepared for individual castings, great amounts of energy are required to melt the metal to be cast, a considerable period of time is required for the castings to cool, the cooled castings must be removed from the molds and cleaned, and the castings then must be machined to final specifications.
Certain manifold constructions are known in which the need for a cast body portion is eliminated. For instance, the patent to Moen, U.S. Pat. No. 3,010,474, issued Nov. 28, 1961, discloses a faucet wherein a deck plate is positioned atop a countertop, exteriorly threaded nipples extend through the deck plate, and a valve body is disposed centrally of the deck plate. The valve body is connected to the nipples by means of inlet pipes. A decorative shell is disposed about the faucet components to provide a pleasing esthetic effect. The entire assembly is held fast against the countertop by nuts threaded about the nipples or by studs threaded into openings from beneath the deck plate.
Although Moen's device does not employ a large cast body portion, it replaces the cast body portion with a centrally disposed valve body performing all valving and spout functions. Moen's device would not be suitable for use with so-called two-handle valve constructions without considerable modification. Further, even though a cast body portion has not been employed, the Moen device still requires a relatively large number of components.
The patent to Johnson, U.S. Pat. No. 4,356,574, issued Nov. 2, 1982, discloses a faucet assembly somewhat like that of Moen's in that a base plate is secured to the upper surface of a sink deck and a faucet body is connected to the base plate. Although Johnson's faucet assembly can be manufactured relatively inexpensively, it still contains a large number of parts and suffers the further drawback that valve functions are performed by pinch valves which engage flexible, water-conveying conduits. The use of pinch valves in conjunction with flexible conduits is undesirable due to concerns about the reliability of such components.
Despite the existence of different approaches to manifold configurations and construction techniques provided by the prior art, there still is no inexpensive, reliable faucet manifold that avoids the need for castings while utilizing the fewest number of parts. Desirably, a faucet manifold would attain the foregoing objectives, particularly for two-handle valve arrangements.